thanks, I bought it in 2009, registered it properly etc etc...I'm not a computer genius, just a hardheaded semi skilled labourer :) that wanted to wipe LINUX off my drive, repartition my my drives and reinstall my software... It told me to created a password, which I did for all three places) which was dumb on my part, but hey, I'm a novice, and really didn't want to take it to someone who would just create a new partition, then tell me they *wiped my system & reinstalled all the software* when they didn't. I'd be angry (not worth the trouble) and so forget that...it took me 6 days, but I still managed to wipe repartition and reinstall my os with a little help and a whole lot of perseverance. Yay me :) My hdd now accepts my password (why it wouldn't before I've no idea), but I'm a happy bunny. If I can get another year out of my Dell Studio, that will be ok as well. Dell wants money to give me the hdd password? Well, they can get stuffed. I've never asked them for anything, so I'll just look elsewhere when I go to replace this one. Thanks for your reply.

Glad to hear you have solved your problem. On another note, you can't blame Dell for charging. The profit on computers is slim. If you now have total access I suggest you either Write down the passwords, including case, or remove the passwords. You remove them by first entering the current password and then use the change the password prompt. Instead of entering a password just hit the enter key. That will set the system as NO PASSWORD.

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